My usual playboy lifestyle was brought to a halt this past week due to the fact that all my classes had something due on either Monday or Tuesday. Alas, my visits with Scarlett were drastically reduced and meetings with Phoebe were strictly business. Confined to a desk and a screen for four days straight does wonders for a man’s focus, but the same can’t be said about his eyes. (Ooh!)
I was saved Sunday night. Steve was off to Boston so I took his ticket to see The Go! Team at the Phoenix with Joyce and a few other of his friends. The show would start at 7:30, mostly likely because it was Sunday night, so we met at Fran’s Diner for a quick meal before walking to the venue. I had my first burger in a long while, actually it was a shrunken chicken breast in a bun.
Now, I had no preconcieved notions about the band. Joyce had sent me their website a week earlier and I had browsed through superficially but I thought it would be appropriate to go into the concert not expecting anything. Unlike movies that have to work hard to earn my $4.25, impressing me both through trailers and critical reviews, I felt such strictness need not apply to live shows, since they are usually entertaining.
We enter the Pheonix and the opening act is already rocking out. Not my usual taste, more indie punk than anything else, but I did enjoy the blaring instruments, a stark contrast to the silence of my basement. The effort of strategic positioning begins, a group of asians try to weasel in every small void in between the crowd, jossling for closer proximity to the stage. We end up being 8-10 feet away from stage left, not bad albeit right next to the 8-10 foot speaker.
Some background music plays while the crew tune and set up instruments. Not knowing any of the band’s songs or what any of the band members look like, everytime a new background track would play I would think the show was starting and proceeded to clap, much to the chagrin of those on my flank I’m certain.
The lights go down and seven kids rush on the stage, led by a small african-british girl (trying to be politically correct and I think they’re from UK). The energy right off the bat is great. They feel like a highschool pep rally band assuming I had gone to an American highschool. One thing I noticed right away is the Korean girl playing lead guitar. The second thing I noticed was how much they like their own name. It seemed like every other song contained the words Go! or Team in some way. Some more things that struck me:
- The lead singer was more of an MC than a singer, she spat lines as fast as cars passing us when my dad is driving.
- There were two drum sets and when both were playing the exact same beat, it was awesome.
- Every member of the band could pretty much play every instrument on stage, and did.
- They used unconventional instruments: Recorder, Mini Blow-Piano, Xylophone.
- A few songs were only instrumental which I really liked.
- The visuals in the background were really well made, unassuming yet additive to the experience.
- The MC must have been a cheerleader prior to the band formation.
Musically, the Go! Team’s sound is upbeat and cheer-y. They are not overly technical, but impressively find ways to mix many different sounds together to create something that will make you smile. There is a lot of cute shouting accompanied by full guitars and horns and if I were to label it, I would call it ‘feel-good fun music’. It is definitely something to listen to when you’re in the car or when you’re just feeling particularly good about yourself.
Check them out for yourselves: http://www.thegoteam.co.uk/